Here’s a link to the first part of this series.
The short of it:
- Your story isn’t about you.
- Universal themes are everywhere.
- Your story is always about the audience.
The long of it.
Your story isn’t about you. No interesting story is about the author. Ever been in a conversation with someone who just wouldn’t stop talking about themselves? Boring, right? Why? You’re not interested. You don’t want to hear about them. Not the minutiae, anyway.
It’s kind of dark-sounding, but no one ever listens to a story that is about the storyteller. If you’re in a conversation with someone, you have to relate what you are saying to that person or they will not listen. You see this on dates. Out with that attractive person, dinner’s going well, you’re talking about yourself and the eyes kind of glaze over. your date is looking around the room, trying to find something else to pay attention to.
Or at work, or at home with family… wherever. The conversation is about the person your talking to or it’s not going to last long.
Same with your story.
This is where the idea of “universal themes” comes in. If your story’s details are facts from your own life, that’s fine, as long as the retelling of that story relates to your audience. This is accomplished by touching on universal themes.
Universal themes are everywhere. In Born Again Yesterday the themes are of loss and recovery of self. The story resonates with religious and non-religious people. It holds attention precisely because, even though it’s largely an autobiography, it’s also not really about me at all. It’s about the audience and their experiences.
I can walk around in my own living room for a couple of hours talking to myself about my religious heritage if I want. No one will stop me, though they may find me odd if they hear it. So why get a theater? Why write a play and why haul in an audience?
To connect. This is the point of all art and all worthwhile human endeavor. To connect and relate. Everything is more fun with a buddy. We need that interaction. We need our communities. And since the first tribe huddled around a campfire we’ve been regaling each other with stories that entertain and engage.
So how do I find a universal theme to connect with my audience? Universal themes could be obesity, health, dogs, redemption, love, sex, coffee, Diet Coke, or anything that you share with your audience. We all want to be loved. We all want to be good enough. We all want to measure up. These are universal themes.
Your story is always about the audience. If I get up on the stage and blather for two hours or five minutes about something that doesn’t relate specifically to my audience, I’m not going to hold my audience’s attention. this has always been the case. These days I just click away to another website or change the channel. In ancient Rome there are stories of whole audiences walking out of plays in the middle if they weren’t being entertained.
The audience has to be the focus of your efforts. In fact, the audience has to be the focus of your efforts or it’s not worth doing. What makes it cool and easy is that usually what you are interested in will be something universal. more on that in the next post.
So pick a universal theme, something that you find interesting. Maybe brainstorm some and choose one. Then leave a comment about that theme, yeah? Let’s make something happen!
By the way, I’ll be doing this with you. On April 30th the performance art group I belong to will be performing at our home base, Living Arts of Tulsa. Our theme is addiction. So I’ll be developing my piece and posting about that process here.
Talk to you later!
